Palm Wine
by as-good-a-night-as-any
Summary: RE-UPLOAD  I've always wondered what went on after my favorite scene in Blood Diamond. Here's what I've always pictured.


Palm Wine

Maddy walked over to where Archer was sitting, all alone in the dark. He looked up at her, and she let her eyes flick down to the carton of white liquid in his hand, which from afar she thought had been milk for one second. He smirked slightly and handed it to her as she sat down. 

"It's palm wine," he told her. She took a whiff and grimaced. Archer's smirk grew slightly. Maddy took a sip and almost thought she was going to puke it right back up. "Jesus Christ," she managed to say. Archer laughed. "Yeah, yeah. It takes getting used to, huh?" 

"God..." she said, laughing a little. "Drank that as a boy," he said. She handed it back to him. "In Rhodesia?" she said, He took a swig. "I take notes." 

He looked down for a moment before speaking. "The Shona... The Shona have a word for me. Mukiwa. It means 'white boy in Africa.'" 

"When did you leave?" she asked. "I didn't leave," he said. "I got sent away to South Africa in 1978 when the munts overran us." 

"Then you joined the army?" He nodded, swallowing more palm wine. "Yeah. Yeah, I did my time in Angola." 

"The 32 Battalion," she said. "That's right. You know, contrary to what you might think about us, we fought with the black, huh?" She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah," he said. "Side by side. There was no apartheid in a foxhole. The colonel always used to tell us that." She leaned forward slightly. "This is Colonel Coetzee?" she questioned. He nodded. "Yeah," he said, not liking the sound of that name anymore. "Then, of course, it's 1994. No more army. No more apartheid." Maddy took a drink of he palm wine. "Truth and reconciliation and all of that rubbish, you know. Kumbaya." Maddy laughed. 

"We fought and died together, you know?" Archer said. "Black and white. Most people back home didn't even know we were at war. We thought we were fighting Communism, but in the end, it was all about who gets what, you know? Ivory, oil, gold..." He leaned back. "Diamonds." It always go back to diamonds... he thought. "So one day, I decided, 'Fuck it,' you know?" He put his fist to his chest. "I'm gonna get mine." 

"You gonna steal his diamond?" This made him pause. "That diamond is my ticket out of this godforsaken continent," he told her. "That doesn't answer the question," she said. He looked at her before taking another sip of the wine. 

Maddy took a deep breath. "My dad came home from the war in '69." She didn't know why she was telling him this, but it just sort of came out. "And it took him...about 20 years for him to get right." Archer laughed. She looked up at him. "What?" He put the carton down. "You Americans, you Americans love to talk about your feelings, huh? So what does that mean? What does that mean?" His eyes narrowed. "Got a thing fro messed-up vets now?" 

"Shut up," she said. Her gaze softened slightly. "You lost both your parents," she said. He looked away from her. "That's a polite way of putting it, yeah. Mom was raped and shot and...Dad was decapitated and hung from a hook in the barn." For a second, he could hear his mother screaming. His jaw locked together. "I was 9." He leaned away from Maddy and swallowed the emotions he felt rising up. He put in a smile and looked at her. "Boohoo, right?" He looked away again and the smile faded. "Sometimes I wonder...will God ever forgive us for what we've done to each other? Then I look around and I realize... God left this place a long time ago." His voice cracked. He looked at her. Then shook his head and leaned forward. "It's...ah..." He felt it coming and knew he couldn't hide it from Maddy. "What's the point, huh?" He put his hand on his forehead, covering his eyes, and tried to fight the emotion welling up inside him. 

Maddy reached up slowly and touched his hand. He immediately turn his head away from her but she closed her hand around his. She inched closer to him. After a moment, he looked up at her. They looked into each others eyes for a long moment. 

She slowly leaned towards him. She couldn't believe that she was, but she that didn't make her stop. She leaned her forehead against his and closed her eyes. She could feel his warm breath bathing her face and felt a good feeling inside her when he didn't pull away. He surprised himself by closing the distance between them and kissing her. She kissed him back. After a long moment, he pulled away, opening his eyes. She opened hers a few seconds after he did. She squeezed his hand. 

"Mr. Archer." He leaned away from Maddy immediately, pulling his hand away gently. He looked over and saw Benjamin walking towards them. As always, he had a smile on his face. "I was wondering where you two had ended up." Maddy turned to him and smiled. "Well, um...we were just having a drink before we went to bed," she told him. Archer nodded, turning his haze back to her for a moment. 

Benjamin gave them an apologetic look. "Well, I'm sorry for interrupting your conversation then," he said. "No, it's okay," Maddy told him. She locked eyes with Archer. "I was just about to go," she said. After a moment, Archer looked away, leaning back against the wood. "Well, good night to both of you, then," Benjamin said, clapping Archer on the shoulder as he walked away, with both him and Maddy saying good night back to him. 

Archer looked back up and saw Maddy still looking at him. "Good night, Archer," she said, getting up and walking away. 

"Good night, Maddy," he said back quietly, not even sure if she had heard. He looked back down at the palm wine, then took it with him as he walked off.


End file.
